Deadline Date: September 23, 2026
The European Commission has launched a Horizon Europe funding opportunity to support research and innovation projects aimed at tackling child poverty and improving disadvantaged children’s access to quality Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) across the European Union.
The opportunity focuses on generating EU-specific evidence on the cost of child poverty, improving access to quality ECEC, reducing participation gaps among disadvantaged children, supporting inclusive growth and fiscal sustainability, strengthening social outcomes, addressing barriers to ECEC participation, mapping efficient policies, comparing value for money of ECEC policies with other social policies, developing evidence-based operational policy advice, improving policymaking approaches, identifying scalable good practices, and involving vulnerable children and parents through multidisciplinary qualitative and quantitative research methodologies.
Under this topic, projects are expected to provide policymakers with updated insights into the economic and social costs of child poverty as well as the long-term returns generated by quality early childhood education and care. The initiative recognises that many previous studies are outdated or were conducted outside the European Union, creating the need for research specifically adapted to the current EU context.
The proposed research may define disadvantaged children beyond purely monetary indicators by considering broader dimensions of poverty and social exclusion, including the challenges faced by systemically marginalised groups. Projects are also encouraged to analyse the short- and long-term impacts of child poverty on children, parents, educational outcomes, wellbeing, and wider economic and social development.
Applicants may investigate the barriers that prevent disadvantaged children from accessing quality ECEC services and examine which policies provide the most efficient and sustainable outcomes. The programme also supports the identification of innovative and established practices that can help close participation gaps and potentially be scaled across different EU contexts.
The call encourages the use of multidisciplinary research approaches, including social sciences and humanities disciplines, and supports both the use of existing datasets and the collection of new data. Researchers may also involve experts by experience, including vulnerable children and parents, in the design and implementation of projects.
This funding opportunity is published under Horizon Europe’s Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Society 2026 work programme as a Research and Innovation Action with a lump sum grant model. The total indicative budget for the topic is EUR 12 million, with expected project funding ranging between EUR 3 million and EUR 4 million. The call opened on 12 May 2026 and the submission deadline is 23 September 2026.
Any legal entity, including organisations from non-associated third countries and international organisations, may participate provided they meet the eligibility conditions set out under Horizon Europe regulations and the specific topic requirements. Beneficiaries and affiliated entities must register in the Participant Register and obtain a Participant Identification Code (PIC) before the grant agreement stage.
For more information, visit European Commission.
